Posts Tagged ‘meditation’
Be a Buddha, Not a Buddhist: Introduction to Weekly Practice
Be a Buddha, not a Buddhist is an important concept to me because the real value, as I see it, in Buddhism is not the ism but the practice itself. I’ve realized recently that I’d like to take my understanding of Buddhism into deeper territory. One of the best ways to do this is to revisit everything I’ve learned in the past, to start my practice from scratch, or with the beginner’s mind, so to speak.
Read MoreWeekly Practice (Impermanence)
For this Weekly Practice we are going to explore impermanence. Don’t lament, “Oh, I know everything is impermanent!” No matter what ideas you currently have about impermanence, no matter how much you may have dug into this topic before, let’s look at it in detail this week. While most of us have a basic awareness…
Read MoreMindfulness of The Engaged, Busy Mind
Time on the cushion, being mindful of mind, is interesting and revealing. You’ll find yourself playing hide and seek with thoughts. You’ll notice thought patterns, habits of the mind, and you may even get to experience quiet times when few thoughts arise. Mindfulness of mind is often a practice of letting go, letting go of each thought as it arises, as it sweeps you away, and as it returns. Eventually, you become mindful of thoughts at work in your daily life.
Last year, I had discovered some beliefs I had that were counter-productive to my current aims. Through mindfulness of mind, I realized that I was carrying around beliefs I had developed as a child about math, which was conflicting with my current interest in physics. I decided I would intentionally over-ride those old beliefs with new formed experiences, and from those I could develop new attitudes around mathematics. I wrote about this topic in Beliefs and Mindfulness of Math, if you are interested.
Read MoreDoes Humanist Meditation Exist?
This is a presentation Rick Heller of the Harvard Humanist Contemplative group gave on secular meditation at the American Humanist Association conference, April 8, 2011. Does humanist meditation exist View more presentations from Rick Heller Does humanist meditation exist — Presentation Transcript 1. Does Humanist Meditation Exist? Presented by Rick Heller Harvard Humanist Contemplative Group…
Read MoreEpisode 99 :: Dr. Rick Hanson :: Just One Thing
Dr. Rick Hanson Dr. Rick Hanson speaks with us about his new book, Just One Thing: Developing A Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time. It’s a daunting task, changing our minds. Not the simple, “I wanted a mocha, but maybe a latte would be better” kind of changing our minds, that’s pretty easy.…
Read MoreEpisode 95 :: Britta Hölzel :: Mechanisms of Mindfulness
Dr. Britta Hölzel speaks with us about her recent paper about the potential mechanisms of mindfulness.
What are the mechanisms of a mindfulness state? A recent paper suggests, as a starting point of discussion, that four significant components may be Attention Regulation, Body Awareness, Emotion Regulation, and Sense of Self. As we look at the positive benefits of meditation, it is valuable for us to hypothesize about these qualities of the process, as that can help us think creatively about new areas for scientific investigation.
Read MoreThe Importance of Compassion without Buddhism
One of the many things I like about the company I’m currently working for is that our CEO uses the following words repeatedly in his All Hands meetings: Mindful, Awareness, Compassion. He speaks of communicating with each other through compassion, being mindful to the needs of others, and staying aware of our cultural needs within the company, and the greater community outside of the company. All of this is spoken without mention of Buddha or Buddhism, and is completely secular.
Read MoreEpisode 94 :: Sue Blackmore :: Skepticism, Meditation, and Consciousness
Professor Sue Blackmore joins us to speak about meditation, consciousness, and her move from belief in the paranormal to skepticism.
It is fairly well-known that I’m a skeptic. Not to be confused with a cynic, or a denier. As host of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, Dr. Steven Novella of the New England Skeptical Society, has described:
Read MoreMeditation Only?
“Therefore, Ananda, you should live with one’s self as an island, one’s self as a refuge . . . . And how does a monk live like this? Here Ananda, a monk abides contemplating the body as body, earnestly, clearly aware, mindful . . . and likewise with regard to feelings, mind and dhamma. And…
Read MoreEpisode 93 :: Philippe Goldin :: Brain Changes with Meditation
Dr. Philippe Goldin Dr. Philippe Goldin speaks with us about changes in the brain from meditation, why psychological studies deal with placebo effects, and parent child mindfulness meditation training on family relationships. Hi, everyone. It’s been a very active few weeks with the release of the new Secular Buddhist Association website, and we’re seeing active…
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